Brokers said that commodities trading house Cargill booked a 1997-built panamax at $11,500 a day, which underlined the weaker Atlantic market.
Another broker said the panamax market would remain under pressure in the short-term unless charterers had some surprise cargoes to cover.
But this seems unlikely as on Monday public holidays in most of Europe will take a number of European operators out of the market again, brokers said.

Shipbrokers said that the number of one-day holidays in Europe meant that the panamax market will struggle to recover before the summer lull fully hits the market.

They added that without a strong foundation, autumn freight rates would fall short of last year's levels.